Mercy is undoubtedly one of the most popular characters in “Overwatch," with consistently high pick rates ever since “Overwatch” launched back in May 2016. Although she is still super fun to play since her rework a few months ago, it seems as though there are still a few issues which the developers would like to iron out, and a further ability Rework now looks to be in the cards.
Why the rework?
Jeff Kaplan, the game director for "Overwatch," posted a quick update on the Blizzard forums yesterday to give players an update on the state of the game.
Whilst Jeff did earmark changes for competitive mode, as well as changes to how player toxicity could be curbed, specific mention was also given to the current state of Mercy play and its effect on the game.
Whilst Jeff did say that the Mercy rework was "much better for both Mercy and non-Mercy players," there was also an admission that Mercy had become "too dominant right now" due to the fact that her resurrect ability was too powerful. As a result, it looks as though Mercy's resurrect ability will be nerfed to some extent in the near future.
What changes should we expect?
So far, we don't know exactly what the changes to the resurrect ability will entail, although it's more likely than not that we'll see any changes appear on the public test region server when they are made.
Although it's just speculation at this point, having a longer cool down on Mercy's resurrect ability could be one way to tackle her dominance in games at the moment, or alternatively, nerfing her ult Valkyrie in some way may also have the same effect. It's unlikely we'll hear anything further on the matter until after BlizzCon 2017, which is taking place on Friday November 3 and Saturday November 4, 2017.
Whilst I'm sure that Mercy will still be as fun to play regardless of the changes made to her ability, I do, as a Mercy main, have some concerns about the amount of reworking that has gone into her character over the past few months. Mercy is, essentially, a huge heal support, and her effectiveness comes from not only being able to deliver high amounts of healing and buffing to her team, but by also being able to resurrect fallen teammates.
Some "Overwatch" players have consistently argued that it's unfair that Mercy's resurrect ability is so strong and that it has too much of an impact on the game. Whilst I think we can all be thankful that the days of the five man rez are behind us, I hope the developers don't nerf Mercy's resurrect to the point where she's no longer viable in the game. Hopefully we'll know the extent of the changes shortly and will have a better idea then.
